Check out the Gilded Grapes

Every time you see hordes of people pouring out of the Miami Beach Convention Center with lanyards flopping around their necks, you wonder, Why can’t I roam that huge hall wearing my name on a string? Usually you can’t because events are open to only important folks, but for just one day, the Mediterranean Experience Expo will welcome regular scrubs like you and me from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday. For $35, you’re invited to visit booths hawking imported cheeses, sit in on seminars singing the praises of a Med diet, and rub shoulders with the dude who purchases olives that your favorite resto throws onto your Greek salad.

And since we know you’re waiting for the alcohol hook (so were we), Hell’s Kitchen loser, um, contestant Seth Levine and a panel of winos, um, enophiles will sample more than 300 Mediterranean wines during the expo’s Food Magazine Wine Challenge. The vinos will vie for gold, silver, bronze, and best in show. You vie for a front-row seat to get high off the fumes.
Sat., May 30, 10 a.m., 2009